2010-08-27

On This Day

Your Toronto Blue Jays traded rookie Jeff Kent and a player to be named later for RHP David Cone. The PTBNL ended up being Ryan Thompson.

At the time of the trade our record was 73 - 55 and we were 2.5 games up on the second place team.

Cone ended up making 7 starts for us down the stretch and finished with a 4 - 3 record. In 53 innings, he struck out 47 and had an ERA of 2.55

I recall he was given the nickname: The Hired Gun. I also recall my buddy Ken Barnstrong losing his shit because Cone was coming from the NL and for some reason Ken figured he was a good hitter because of this. I wasn't so sure.

In his 4 World Series at bats, Cone managed to get 2 singles and an RBI. He also had a walk. Guess Kenny was right about that one.....

When it was all said and done, we won the World Series that year and all was good.

However:

Jeff Kent ended up playing 17 seasons in the big leagues and put up some pretty impressive numbers for a second basemen. He should get some Hall of Fame votes when he becomes eligible.

Conclusion:

These are the types of deals that happen near the deadline. A young up and coming type player gets shipped for a veteran that fills a need for a team in a race.

If they could do it all over again, I'm sure they would. This is one of those deals that worked out for both teams, (or maybe not, he didn't have great success with the Mets if I recall), but it was the right move. I would do it all over again if I was in charge.

I don't think we win without Cone, although maybe we do, and maybe if we had Kent we could have had some more success in the later '90s and into the next decade. But who knows, Kent was a big jerk and didn't get along with a lot of people, and therefore moved around a lot.

@Mattt,The purpose of this post was not to question the move at all. We won the World Series and Cone played a role in that. Of course I support the trade and I'm sure if the brain trust had to go back in time and discuss the deal knowing what they know now, they would do it again to.But as you said, we did give up what turned out to be a lot.

@Argos,You seem conflicted. The coulda, shoulda, woulda game is a tough one to play! Sure Kent was a dick but he put up some fantastic numbers at a position that guys were not counted on to put up fantastic numbers. I just wanted to point out that in order to win now, a team must sacrifice winning later and this trade illustrated that very well in my opinion.

I wasn't questioning your post, I drew the conclusion that it may have been an unnecessary move that was very costly. However, if the championship was even slightly in doubt then this was definitely the right move. It's pretty easy for me to sit here and question it now after knowing what everyone involved ended up doing in their careers...

Mattt,Everything has a price bro. A total fleecing *cough Escobar cough* rarely happens.Up only 2.5 games with over a month to go.....we did what we had to.One can only reminisce about a playoff race in these parts.